Medicare Cuts Could Slash 278K Hospital Jobs, Warns AHA

A GOP staffer on the Ways and Means Committee told HealthLeaders Media Thursday that the House leadership stands by the points made in the media release.

Steinberg says hospitals are "very concerned about how this is going to shake out between figuring out ways to fund the physician fix."

"We are already facing a 2% sequester and then of course even with the sequester there will be more deficit reduction in the coming years. On top of that hospitals are seeing a lot of pressures from states on the Medicaid front," she said.  

AHA officials fear the cuts in H.R. 3060 are a continuation of a larger assault on the nation's hospitals.

"The $155 billion that AHA put on the table for the Affordable Care Act was our attempt to show that it had to be a sacrifice for everybody," AHA Board Chair Teri Fontenot, the president/CEO of Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge, LA told HealthLeaders Media.

"If you are going to get something—which we wanted more insurance coverage for uninsured patients—then you have to be willing to give something up. But everybody has a stake in this and each group ought to be looking at how they can work together."